Acadian Driftwood

They signed a treaty
And our homes were taken
Loved-ones forsaken,
They didn't give a damn.
Try to raise a family
End up an enemy
Over what went down on the Plains of Abraham.

A tale of the French settlers of Nova Scotia (known as Acadians), evicted by the British, many of whom ended up in Louisiana, becoming the people known as the Cajun.

In 1755 the British, believing the Acadians posed a security threat to their naval base in Halifax and a danger if the France tried to reconquer the province, ordered their expulsion, a process that continued for several years.  Many of the refugees ended up in Spanish Louisiana but several thousand also died during the expulsions.  The expulsion order was lifted in 1764 and small groups of Acadians were allowed back.

Out of this sad story, Robbie Robertson wrote Acadian Driftwood for The Band's last studio album; Northern Lights - Southern Cross.  The song's themes and feel link it to The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. 

The lyrics take some liberty with the chronology.  In reality, the expulsion order came at the beginning of the Seven Years War, while the Battle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 came four years after the order, but the song gets the gist of the story right.